Armoured Rider Knuckle
by Cyclone Accel Xtreme
Summary: After his death, Ryoji Hase receives an offer, die and let the world be destroyed or live and change the dark future yet to come. Uniting the Beat Riders, Hase must continue the fight against Yggdrasil and the Overlords, till the bitter end.
1. Chapter I

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**Armoured Rider Knuckle**

by

Cyclone Accel Xtreme

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**Chapter I - Ryoji Hase**

**(Ryoma's Lab, Yggdrasil Tower)**

"Put it on the table," instructed Ryoma to the two Kurokage Troopers carrying the corpse of Ryoji Hase, still in his Hekija Inves Form.

The professor himself was sat at his desk, admiring his upgrades to the prototype Drivers used by Kouta Kazuraba and Kaito Kumon. The two were now safely locked up in their cells, the Drivers would never be used, but he hated to see a project uncompleted, he had already upgraded Takatora's Sengoku Driver should he ever need to use it.

The two Troopers hefted the body up onto the diseccion table and left, puddles of green blood formed around the points at which the body touched the table. Ryoma wandered over to the body, deciding to leave off locking up his newest Trooper Belt away for now, he had a much more interesting subject to study.

Although, Ryoma had tuned the new Driver up somewhat, even if a Class C Lockseed was used in it, it could still beat Gaim or Baron, even if they were using Suika Arms. He also adapted it so a Genesis Core replaced the Rider Indicator, he was interested to see what kind of Arms that would create.

"Hmm, you're going to be very interest to dissect, Test Subject #5," spoke Ryoma to the corpse in front of him, "I've never seen anyone capable of surviving as an Inves for that long."

**-Mr. Knuckleman-**

**(Dream World)**

Ryoji Hase gasped loudly and woke, sitting bolt upright. The former Rider looked down at his body and was shocked to see it was once again normal, no sign of the fact he had consumed a fruit in the depths his insanity.

"What the hell?" muttered Hase at the sheer whiteness all around him, "Where am I?"

"The dream world," answered DJ Sagara, appearing behind Hase, "A world between life and death."

"I'm dead?" breathed Hase in shock.

"Yes, the Lock Dealer did it," replied Sagara, "But you can to choose to return."

"What's the point?" grunted Hase, "Jonouchi abandoned me, Raid Wild is over and my Driver was destroyed!"

"Jonouchi didn't abandon you," spoke Sagara, "He tried to distance you from the fight since your Driver was destroyed, he even went crawling to Bravo so he could train to be strong enough to protect you."

"Really?" questioned Hase, "But my Driver is still destroyed."

"Yggdrasil has mass-produced Drivers, with no DNA Lock, I'm sure you could get your hands on one," returned Sagara, "If you returned that is."

"Do they really need me?" asked Hase, "What could I do, all I am is a hot-headed idiot who was everyone's punch bag!"

"You were using the least powerful set of Arms," informed Sagara, "Imagine what you could do with more power?"

"And use it for what? This whole Inves Games seems kinda trivial now," muttered Hase, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Okay, I'll tell you the real reason I'm here," spoke Sagara, "The world is going to end if you choose to give up and die. Billions of people will die, the Inves will be defeated, but at a great cost."

"And I can stop this?" asked Hase disbelievingly, "How am I important? I'm just some_ bad boy_ who got kicked outta school!"

"I've realised I can't convince you to choose to live," said Sagara, "But I can show you the future if you choose to die."

Without warning Sagara reached his hand out and golden energy covered Hase, the future flashing through his mind, Kiwami Arms, Micchi becoming evil, the destruction of Jonouchi's Driver and Kaito evolving into Lord Baron. Hase no longer had the choice to live or die, he had an obligation to live and fight to protect the human race.

"If you live, if you die," spoke Sagara, "It's all up to you, but if you've got any fight in you, now's the time to pull it out."

The golden energy surrounding Hase intensified and his eyes snapped open, his irises pure gold.

"I WILL LIVE!" yelled Hase, his body exploding in a flash of gold.

Sagara uncovered his eyes and smiled warmly, his form shifting and revealing him to be Kouta, his hair a light blonde colour.

"The future is looking much brighter now," muttered Kouta, vanishing in a flash of gold.

**-Mr. Knuckleman-**

**(Ryoma's Lab)**

"Right then, let's get to work," spoke Ryoma to himself as he prepared to dissect the Hekija Inves.

Suddenly the Inves's right arm shot up and knocked Ryoma across the room with one swipe. Disbelievingly, the Lemon Rider watched as the Inves corpse stood up, blood dripping out of its wounds.

"Impossible!" muttered Ryoma, "He's dead!"

Gold energy condensed around the Inves, sweep across his body, healing it and transforming back into that of Ryoji Hase. The former Armoured Rider looked very different, wearing black jeans, grey converse, a white t-shirt and a sleeveless leather jacket. His hair was no longer gelled back, now allowed to sit in a natural quiff. However, the most shocking changes were his shining golden irises.

"I was," answered Hase with a grin, "But I got bored."

"Those eyes!" gasped Ryoma, "Those are the eyes of a-"

"Overlord Inves, that's what I am," interrupted Hase, "Part human, part Overlord!"

"Th-That's impossible!" denied Ryoma, scared for one of the few times in his life, "You can't exist."

"And yet I do," replied Hase, approaching Ryoma's desk and picking the new Trooper Driver.

"Don't touch that," warned Ryoma, pulling out his Genesis Driver and Lemon Energy Lockseed.

"I could use a warm-up," smirked Hase, knowing his arrogance was rubbing Ryoma up the wrong way.

**LEMON ENERGY!**

Ryoma activated his Energy Lockseed and a crack appeared above him, the Lemon Energy Armour Part dropping down through it. Ryoma spun his Lockseed around and clicked it into the Drive Bay. Pushing down the Lock On Arm, Ryoma followed up by sliding the Seaboll Compressor in. The Lockseed popped open, soda flowing into the plastic cup below.

**SODA!**

Ryoma's blue and black suit materialised around his body, the Armour Part dropping down onto his shoulders and unfolding into Lemon Energy Arms, arming him with the Sonic Arrow.

**LEMON ENERGY ARMS! FIGHT! POWER! FIGHT! POWER! F-F-F-FIGHT!**

"I think I'll use this Driver," taunted Hase, holding up the upgraded Trooper Driver.

"You are disrupting my data collection," replied Duke, raising his Sonic Arrow.

Hase rolled his eyes and spoke, "Henshin."

A Helheim Fruit sat floating in one of Ryoma's jars smashed through its container and flew to Hase's hand, who opened it as it turned into a Kurumi Lockseed.

**KURUMI!**

Above Hase another crack opened, an orange and black, walnut themed Armour Part dropping through it. Hase grinned and activated the Cutting Knife, a loud guitar riff sound coming from the Driver.

**KURUMI ARMS! MR. KNUCKLEMAN!**

In a flash, a black suit materialised around Hase and the Kurumi Arms dropped onto his shoulders, unfolding and arming him with the Kurumi Bombers, which greatly resembled a pair of boxing gloves.

"It's clobbering time!" yelled Hase, charging head first at Ryoma, even death couldn't curb his head-strong nature.

Duke raised his Sonic Arrow and fired off a barrage of shots, only for Hase to block them with his Bombers. The Walnut Rider barrelled into Duke, pummelling him over and over with his fists.

"Hm, long range attack seems to be futile," spoke Duke to himself, the HUD of his helmet showing him an analysis of Hase, "Switching to my personal weapon would be a tactical advantage."

Duke tossed his Sonic Arrow aside and held out his hand, a wicked-looking mace appearing in it. The Lemon Mace was a relatively short weapon, the spiked end resembling a lemon. Duke reached out his other hand, a second Lemon Mace appearing in it.

"Even with the upgrades I made to that Driver, not even with a Class A could you ever hope to beat me," taunted Duke, charging at Hase, swinging his maces.

"Did you ever think to ever stop think about who could be using it?" asked Hase in return, knocking a mace out of one of Duke's hands, "What if they're stronger than you accounted for?"

"Impossible!" spat Duke, "No one is that strong!"

"I just died and came back to life," retorted Hase, "I'm pretty sure impossible isn't really that much effort."

Duke charged at Hase again, who quickly sliced his Cutting Knife down three times, activating his Sparking Function.

**KURUMI SPARKLING!**

Hase concentrated, three Walnut holograms appearing in front of him. He prepared himself and punched them at Duke, the first knocking his maces from his hands, the second blasting him back and the third forcing him to power down. Hase canceled his transformation and walked over to where Ryoma lay, too exhausted to move.

"What are you?" grunted Ryoma, trying to crawl away.

"I'm Armoured Rider Knuckle," replied Hase, before punching Ryoma in the head and knocking him out, "You'd do well to remember that."

**-Mr. Knuckleman-**


	2. Chapter II

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**Armoured Rider Knuckle**

by

Cyclone Accel Xtreme

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**Chapter II - Knuckleman Throwdown**

**(Ryoma's Lab, Yggdrasil Tower)**

Hase sat in Ryoma's chair, spinning around as the computer copied all its files to a pendrive, creating him an invisible back door into the Yggdrasil System at the same time. Bored at waiting, Hase opened a draw of Ryoma's desk and pulled out a keycard.

Standing up, Hase stepped over Ryoma's trussed up unconscious body and walked over to a heavy vault door, placing the keycard over the panel. The panel beeped and the locks released, the door swinging open. Hase walked in and grinned, inside were racks and racks of Sengoku Drivers, Lockseeds, Genesis Drivers, Energy Lockseeds and many more goodies.

Flitting over to the nearest shelf, Hase grabbed two of the prototype Genesis Drivers, one was missing the handle and the other was missing the cup. Opening the briefcase next to them he placed them inside, shutting and locking it. The Walnut Rider moved on, boxing up all the Drivers and Lockseeds, all of the former appeared to be prototypes.

After near to an hour Hase had finished, holding Ryoma's Driver and Lockseed in his hand, another Lockseed in his other, the entire contents of the vault sat in a pile in front of him. Clicking open the second Lockseed, a crack to Helheim appeared, followed by a second crack appearing in Helheim, leading to Hase's bedroom.

Hase grinned, he'd found this Lockseed earlier, a prototype of Ryoma's which could open a crack to wherever the user could visualize. Slipping the Lockseed in his pocket, Hase picked up a box and leapt through the crack, placing it down in his bedroom.

Over the next ten minutes, Hase took all the boxes he packed up to his bedroom and turned to go back to Yggdrasil when he heard his mother shout up to him.

"Ryoji? Is that you?" called his mother.

Hase internally swore, he must have made more noise than he had intended to do, "Yeah, I came up the fire escape!"

"I do wish you wouldn't do that!" replied Hase's mother, "One of these days you'll fall and break your neck!"

"I'm sure I'll be fine!" returned Hase, "I'm going back out now!"

"Oh, wait!" shouted up Hase's mother, "Hideyasu rang up earlier, he said he wanted to apologise."

Hase smiled and spoke again, "I'll be back in a few hours."

With that Hase opened and closed his window, letting his mother believe he had left the apartment via the fire escape. He then jumped through the crack into Yggdrasil and shut it behind himself with the Portal Lockseed.

"Well, let's go get Kouta and Kaito," muttered Hase, grabbing three Genesis Cores and three different Energy Lockseeds he'd left behind.

With that, Hase turned exited the vault, coming face to face with none other than Yoko Minato.

"Well, crap," spoke Hase sadly, "Things were going so peachy,"

Hase went to fall into a defensive stance but Yoko was quicker, punching in the face with a solid right hook. Hase reeled backwards, but didn't fall, instead turning back to face Yoko as the split lip she gave him healed up, his eyes flashing gold.

"What are you?" asked Yoko, taken aback by his display of power.

"A man with a lotta lives to save," replied Hase, pulling out his Mass Driver and strapping it to his waist.

"Ryoma's upgraded Driver!" muttered Yoko, aware of the power the pre-attached Genesis Core could provide.

"Well, then," spoke Hase, "Let's tango!"

Reaching into his pocket, Hase pulled out his Kurumi Lockseed and Ryoma's Lemon Energy Lockseed, having left the Professor's Genesis Driver in his bedroom.

**KURUMI! / LEMON ENERGY!**

With a slight flourish, Hase fitted the two Lockseeds into his Mass Driver, the regular Kurumi in the Drive Bay and the Energy Lockseed in the Genesis Core. Above Hase two cracks appeared and the Kurumi and Lemon Energy Armour Parts dropped into view, fusing together to form the Jinba Lemon Armour Part.

**LOCK ON!**

Hase grabbed the Cutting Knife and sliced down, opening the two Lockseed. The Armour Part dropped down and unfolded, leaving Hase in Jinba Lemon Arms, now equipped with a Sonic Arrow to match those used by the Energy Riders.

**KURUMI ARMS! JINBA LEMON! HA-HA!**

"Impossible!" spat Yoko, "A new set of arms!"

"Are you going to stand there admiring my Jinba Arms?" mocked Knuckle, "Or are you actually going to fight me?"

Yoko regained her composure, she would need if she was to beat Knuckle. Ryoma had told her of his side-project, upgrading a Mass Driver to create a new set of arms.

"HENSHIN!" called Yoko, pulling out her Lockseed and activating it.

**PEACH ENERGY!**

Above Yoko, a crack opened, allowing the Peach Energy Armour Part to appear. Yoko clicked her Lockseed into its Drive Bay and pushed the Seaboll Compressor in, allowing the juice of the Lockseed to drain into the cup below.

**SODA!**

The Armour Part dropped down onto Yoko's shoulders and unfolded, transforming her into Peach Energy Arms and allowing her access to her Sonic Arrow.

**PEACH ENERGY ARMS!**

Marika launched herself at Knuckle, who blocked her attack with the bladed end of his Sonic Arrow, before firing off two shots at close range. Marika dodged the first arrow but the second clipped her shoulder, singeing the material.

Growling, Marika replied with a barrage of shots, however Knuckle dived to one side, the arrows that hit him marking his chest-plate. Seeing that his Sonic Arrow had been knocked far away, Knuckle reached out his hand and sighed in relief as a Lemon Mace appeared.

Charging at Marika, he smashed his mace into her chest-plate, denting it. Knuckle knew he had to keep at a close range, whilst the Sonic Arrow was an excellent ranged weapon, when it came to close combat it was far outmatched by the Lemon Mace.

Marika slashed at Knuckle, who blocked it with his mace and spun, using it to gather enough power to knock Marika's Sonic Arrow from her hand. Grunting in frustration, Marika raised her hands as a weapon appeared in each, a pink dagger in one and a black scimitar in the other.

Marika swung the Peach Scimitar at Knuckle and went completely wide. However, a wave of energy shot from the end of the dagger and seared into in Knuckle's chest-plate, burning a hole in the armour for Marika to capitalise on.

Knuckle swung again with the Lemon Mace, his blow smashing Marika's scimitar clean in half. Blocking a energy blast from Marika's dagger with his mace, Knuckle knocked the weapon from her hand and activated his Sparkling function.

**KURUMI SPARKLING! / JINBA LEMON SPARKLING! **

Knuckle held out his hand and his Sonic Arrow flew towards him, the Walnut Rider catching it. Knuckle quickly slotted his new Lemon Energy Lockseed into the Sonic Arrow and pulled back the trigger, charging up the weapon.

In a line from the tip of the Sonic Arrow to Marika, cross-section holograms of walnuts and lemons appeared, alternating from one to the next. Releasing the trigger, an orange and yellow energy blast shot from the Sonic Arrow and hit Marika directly on the chest, forcing her suit to de-materialise.

Yoko hit the ground and didn't move, having been knocked out cold. Knuckle shut his Lockseeds and strode towards Yoko, his suit vanishing as he did.

Hase bent and checked for a pulse, sighing in relief at feeling at strong beat from Yoko. Hase's hands moved to her waist and removed her Genesis Driver and Peach Energy Lockseed.

Standing up, Hase walked over to Ryoma's computer, removing his pendrive when he saw the download had completed. Picking up a discarded satchel bag, Hase place Yoko's Driver and Lockseed inside along with the Gaim and Baron Drivers, both of which had been left on Ryoma's desk.

Hase sorted through the mess, tracking down Kouta and Kaito's Lockseeds as well as a spare Mass Driver. Adding them to the bag, Hase closed it and stuffed the pendrive into his pocket.

Approaching the bound Ryoma, Hase placed two fingers on the scientist's temple. Using his new Overlord Powers, Hase searched through Ryoma's mind, assimilating his knowledge of the Drivers and Lockseeds into his own.

"That'll do," muttered Hase, breaking contact, his intelligence greatly expanded from how it was before.

Hase pulled the Portal Lockseed out of his pocket, sighing that it wasn't charged yet due to the faded grey colour of the pattern on the front. Returning it, Hase snatched up his satchel bag and set out in the direction of the Holding Cells.

**-Mr. Knuckleman-**

**(Beat Riders Hotline Studio)**

DJ Sagara sat his chair, deeply troubled. He had decided to meddle with fate and give Kouta Kazuraba an upgrade but soon sensed something very wrong. Ryoji Hase had returned to life and become Armoured Rider Knuckle.

The Snake had reconsidered, the Hase boy would give Kazuraba the power upgrade and he needed all the time he could get to work out a plan on how to set the timeline back in course.

"Sagara," spoke a voice behind the DJ.

"Hello Kouta Kazuraba," greeted Sagara, standing and facing the blonde-haired man.

"That's the Man of Beginning to you," retorted Kouta, "I've come a very long way for this."

"For what?" asked Sagara smugly.

"This!" spat Kouta, raising his hand and firing a constant stream of pale blue energy at Sagara, whose body began to disintegrate.

In seconds the representation of Helheim was destroyed, but Kouta knew he would reform at some point. Seeing that the Beat Rider Hotline was about to restart, Kouta sat down in the chair and changed his appearance to match Sagara's.

"Hello, Zawame City!" exclaimed Kouta, taking on Sagara's persona easily, he would need to gain the trust of Sagara's Yggdrasil coworkers.

**-Mr. Knuckleman-**

**So, wow! I'm kind of astonished at the response Chapter I received, eleven reviews! Basically, I'd like to thank you all for your support and kind words, thank you!**


	3. Chapter III

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**Armoured Rider Knuckle**

by

Cyclone Accel Xtreme

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**Chapter III - Fists of Justice**

**(Holding Area, Yggdrasil Tower)**

Armoured Rider Ryugen rushed through the entrance to the Holding Area and punched a code into the keypad next to the door, causing the doors to slam shut.

**WELCOME, OVERSEER KURESHIMA**

Micchy shut his Lockseed and slid down the door as his suit disappeared in a flash. The young Kureshima brother sighed in relief, glad his brother was as predicable as ever, his authorisation code was easy to guess.

Breaking into Yggdrasil had been easy, but after the alarms started to blare, a pair of Kurokage Troopers had realised he wasn't supposed to be there, chasing after him.

On the other side of the door the two Troopers came to halt, the first inputed his code into the keypad, frowning when the door refused to open.

"What's wrong?" asked the second Trooper.

"The door's locked, Test Subject #3 must have done something to it," answered the first.

"Then we'll have to break it down," spoke the second, indicating at the door.

On the other side Micchy froze in shock, there was no way he could get out off this.

**MATSUBOKKURI SQUASH!**

Micchy heard the two activate their finishers and prepare to use them to destroy the door. Suddenly, the sound of fighting could be heard, stopping nearly as soon it started.

**KURUMI ARMS! MR. KNUCKLEMAN!**

"Kurumi?" muttered Micchy, "I've never heard of anyone using that set of arms."

"Mind if I come in?" asked a voice, the rapping of knuckles on the door echoing loudly.

Micchy stood up and faced the door, ready to transform at the first sign of danger. He heard a sigh before the light flashed green above the door and it slid open.

"Hey," greeted Knuckle as he stepped through the doorway.

"Who are you?" asked Micchy, trying to sound confident.

"Don't you recognise me?" returned Hase as he cancelled his transformation.

"Hase?" gasped Micchy, "I saw it, I saw you die, the footage!"

"Urgh! This is getting annoying!" grunted Hase, "I was dead, now I'm not!"

"This has been a really weird day," muttered Micchy, lowering his hand holding his Lockseed.

Hase opened his bag and pulled out a Genesis Core and a Budou Energy Lockseed, "Here, have these!"

Micchy accepted the devices and examined them, "This is Yggdrasil Tech, it's from the Genesis Drivers, I got a glance at the specs earlier."

"You got that from a glance?" questioned Hase, raising a glance.

"I'm pretty sure you could do better," replied Micchy, pocketing the Core and Lockseed, "What with you being half-Overlord."

"What?" snapped Hase, "I didn't tell you that! How do you know?"

"I-I don't know," stuttered Micchy, his eyes wide.

Suddenly, Micchy grunted in pain and fell to one knee, the Rider Indicator on his Driver flashing briefly red before returning to normal.

Hase quickly helped Micchy up and spoke, "A time anomaly, I can sense it, it was draining your life force."

"How?" asked Micchy breathlessly.

"I don't know," answered Hase, summoning a Himawari Lockseed and setting it into Micchy's belt, "This should help replenish your energy."

"Thanks," replied Micchy, his strength returning to him as the Lockseed in his Driver faded to grey and was ejected onto the floor.

"You okay to go?" questioned Hase.

Micchy nodded and spoke, "Yeah, we need to help Kouta and Kaito, Yggdrasil captur-"

"Captured them? I know," finished Hase, "I'm here break them out, the knockoffs of me are a pain in the backside."

"Wait, they're after you?" asked Micchy as he and Hase set off down the corridor.

"Yep, apparently they don't like me defeating two of their Energy Riders, stealing their Drivers, all of Ryoma Sengoku's prototypes and a copy of the entire Yggdrasil Archives," replied Hase, grinning at Micchy's surprised face, "I've been busy, got a new Mass Driver, an upgrade experiment of Ryoma's."

"Micchy!" exclaimed a voice, "HASE?"

"Hey, Kouta," greeted Hase, pulling out his keypass and holding it over the scanner to open the cell in which Kouta was being held.

"You're alive!" cheered Kouta, "How did you survive?"

"I didn't, I was brought back to life," answered Hase, amused that Kouta was the only one to ask how survived, not how he came back to life.

**ACCESS DENIED!**

"Damnit, Ryoma must have cancelled his pass," growled Hase.

"What do we do now?" asked Kouta, looking uncertainly between Hase and Micchy.

"This," answered Hase, kicking the door and causing it bend inwards.

As Hase continued to kick the door to pieces, Micchy tapped a code into keypad of the scanner, which flashed green.

**ACCESS GRANTED!**

With a beep the door slid open, but jammed thanks to the dents created by Hase trying to kick it in.

"Hey, I had that!" exclaimed Hase.

"Eventually, that keypass will have told them exactly where we are," returned Micchy, "We don't have the time spend kicking in a door."

Kouta sighed and pushed himself through the small gap between the door and its frame. Stepping between Micchy and Hase, he ended the glaring contest they seemed to be doing.

"Yoshi!" cheered Kouta, "Now let's spring Kaito as well."

"Right," agreed Micchy, moving a cell further down and unlocking it with his brother's authorisation code.

"Kaito!" exclaimed Kouta, waving at the Team Baron leader.

"You three!" spat Kaito, "I was told you were dead, Hase, but you've changed, gained power."

"Less chatting, more breaking outta here," dismissed Hase, grabbing Kaito's wrist and pulling him out of his cell.

Kaito frowned, "How did you-"

"I'll explain later," interrupted Micchy, he could hear shouts at the end of the corridor.

"Yay! Woo-hoo!," cheered Hase sarcastically, before deadpanning, "Talking."

"We need to get out of here now!" reminded Kouta, the sounds of Kurokage Troopers increasing with every passing second.

"I'm not leaving without my Driver," warned Kaito, glaring at the other three Riders in turn.

"Me neither," replied Kouta seriously, "I need it to protect those who can't protect themselves."

"Good thing I've got them," spoke Hase, opening his bag and tossing Kaito and Kouta their Drivers.

Hase reached in again and pulled out Kouta's Orenji, Pine, Ichigo, Suika, Fresh Orenji, Fresh Pine and Wizard Lockseeds and handed them to him. Reaching in again, Hase returned Kaito his Banana, Mango, Ichigo, Melon, Kiwi, OOO and rusted Banana Lockseeds.

"What's our way out?" asked Kouta as he and Kaito strapped their Drivers around their waists.

"Yggdrasil's crack," answered both Micchy and Hase at the same time.

"Right, then let's go," ordered Kaito, marching off, flicking his coat out to add some flare.

"You heard the man," added Hase, the other three setting off after the spear-wielding Rider.

**-Mr. Knuckleman-**

**(Ryoma's Lab)**

Ryoma Sengoku sat in his desk chair staring at the monitor in front him, playing a live feed of the four Rider's escape attempt.

"Should we deploy Zangetsu Shin and Sigurd?" asked Yoko as she tended to Ryoma's injuries.

"No, only Sid, I'm interested in the data Test Subject #5 can provide," spoke Ryoma, "I don't want Takatora breaking them, Ms. Minato."

**-Mr. Knuckleman-**

**(Yggdrasil Research Crack)**

"It's here!" called out Hase, squealing to a halt as Kaito, Kouta and Micchy sprinted to catch up.

"We'll escape via the crack to Helheim," explained Micchy, "From there we can use our Lockvehicles to get back out again."

"Sounds like a plan," replied Kouta, nodding.

"Sounds like fleeing," growled Kaito, "I don't flee."

"There's a first for everything," returned Hase, taking a step forward when a twenty-strong squad of Kurokage Troopers appeared, Sid stood at the front.

"Ryoma told me you returned from the dead," spoke Sid to Hase, "I don't like that, when an adult tells a child what to do, they should obey."

"I'm not child, Lock Dealer," replied Hase, pulling out his Kurumi Lockseed, "I have seen your death and it is pathetic."

Sid snorted, "Looks like you went full crazy of your way back to the land of the living."

**KURUMI!**

"HENSHIN!" yelled Hase, popping the Lock Arm open.

Above Hase a crack opened and the Kurumi Armour Part appeared through it. Clicking the Lockseed into his Driver and coding the Lock Arm, Hase sliced the Cutting Knife down, activating his transformation.

**LOCK ON!**

As the now familiar guitar riff played, the Armour Part dropped onto his shoulders, materialising his suit and unfolding into Kurumi Arms, his boxing glove weapons appearing at the same time.

**KURUMI ARMS! MR. KNUCKLEMAN!**

"You stand no chance," warned Sid, "Now hand in your Drivers and return to your cells."

"Never!" shouted Kouta, pushing his way forward.

"I hate it when children don't do as they're told," groaned Sid, producing his Cherry Energy Lockseed.

**CHERRY ENERGY!**

**ORENJI!**

The two enemies activated their respective Lockseeds, the Orenji appearing over Kouta and the Cherry Energy Armour Part over Sid. Spinning his Lockseed around his finger, Sid slotted it into his Driver, Kouta following suit.

**LOCK ON!**

"You will lose, Kazuraba!" spat Sid, holding the sides of his Genesis Driver and pushing the Seaboll Compressor in.

"I will never let evil like you win!" returned Kouta, fury in his eyes and he sliced his Lockseed open.

**SODA!**

**SOIYA!**

The two Armour Parts dropped onto their respective Riders's shoulders, the Sigurd Suit materializing around Sid and the Gaim Suit around Kouta. Seeing his chance, Knuckle charged at Sid, knocking him away before his Arms could protect him.

Behind them, the Kurokage Troopers jumped to attention and charged at Kouta, whose Orange Arms unfolded in time to protect him from the closest Trooper's attacks.

**ORENJI ARMS! HANAMICHI ON STAGE!**

In a splash of orange juice, Kouta's armour finished opening, the liquid forcing the Troopers to halt their attack. Raising his Daidaimaru, Gaim prepared himself to fight.

"Kaito, Micchy, looks we're going to have to fight our way out of here," warned Gaim, drawing his Musou Saber from its sheath.

"Fine by me," drawled Kaito, producing his Banana Lockseed.

"I'll follow you, Kouta," reassured Micchy, holding up his Budou Lockseed.

**BANANA!**

**BUDOU!**

**-Mr. Knuckleman-**


	4. Chapter IV

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**Armoured Rider Knuckle**

by

Kamen Rider Jam

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**Chapter IV - The Future of Today Pt.I**

**(Yggdrasil Research Crack)**

**BANANA ARMS! KNIGHT OF THE SPEAR!**

**BUDOU ARMS! RYU, HOU, HA-HA-HA!**

Baron and Ryugen charged forward as their Arms unfolded, equipping them with the Banaspear and Budou Ryuhou respectively.

"Glad you could finally join the party," teased Gaim as he used his Daidaimaru to deflect a blow from one of the Troopers.

"Shut up and focus on fighting," snapped Baron, slashing a Trooper with his lance.

"Right little ray of sunshine you are," commented Gaim, making Ryugen give a snort of laughter.

Nearby, Sid kicked Knuckle away, allowing him time for his Armour Part to unfold and his Sonic Arrow to appear.

**CHERRY ENERGY ARMS!**

"I cannot be beaten by a child," spat Sigurd, firing his Sonic Arrow at Knuckle, only for him to block them with his Bombers.

"Think again," replied Knuckle, charging forward and punching Sigurd in the jaw, a slight crack in his helmet appearing.

"On your left!" yelled Gaim as he launched a kick at Sigurd, sending the Energy Rider stumbling.

"It might be time to go Jinba," commented Knuckle, tossing the Orenji Energy Lockseed to Gaim, "Where did I put the Core?"

Grabbing his backpack from where he discarded Knuckle searched through it, eventually finding the elusive Genesis Core. Behind him, Gaim slashed Sigurd to keep him at bay and looked down to see how the Energy Lockseed worked.

"What's this switch?" wondered Gaim, catching sight of a small switch on the side of his Driver, the same side as his Rider Indicator, "This wasn't here before."

Shrugging, Gaim flicked the switch and gasped as his Rider Indicator flashed black before shifting shape to resemble a Genesis Core.

**GAIM-YAMI! STANDING BY!**

"What the hell?" muttered Knuckle, "This didn't happen in the original timeline, the Professor must have upgraded his Driver."

**ORENJI ENERGY!**

Activating the Energy Lockseed, the one in his Driver closed and his Orenji Arms returned to its Armour Part, floating upwards. A crack opened above and the Orenji Energy Armour Part appeared and fused with the regular Armour Part. Gaim clicked the Energy Lockseed into the Genesis Core, shutting both Lock Arms and slicing down the Cutting Knife.

**MIX!**

Dropping down onto Gaim's shoulders, the Armour Part opened into Jinba Orenji Arms, the Sonic Arrow appearing in Gaim's hand. Suddenly, Gaim's undersuit and helmet glowed bright before fading to reveal they had complete changed colour, the blue replaced by black and gold by silver.

**ORENJI ARMS! JINBA ORENJI! HA-HA!**

Pausing to shift his grip on the Sonic Arrow, Gaim-Yami charged forward, clashing weapons with Sigurd. The Cherry Rider released an arrow, hitting Gaim-Yami in the chest and forcing him back.

"You may have a new set of Arms, but you still have an outdated Driver," snarked Sigurd, "You cannot face me even with a set of those Arms."

"How about two sets?" asked Knuckle, hitting Sigurd in the shoulder with two arrows.

**KURUMI ARMS! JINBA LEMON! HA-HA!**

"Surprise!" exclaimed Knuckle sarcastically, his Jinba Lemon Arms releasing a wave of juice as they finished opening.

"You! If you continue to interfere I will not hesitate to put down again," snarled Sigurd, charging at Knuckle.

Summoning the Lemon Mace, Knuckle used to to knock Sigurd's bow from his hands, following up with a jab to his stomach.

"Use Jinba Orenji's special power!" yelled Knuckle to Gaim-Yami.

Inside Gaim-Yami's helmet, the advanced HUD brought up a file, detailing Jinba Orenji's special power.

Grinning, Gaim-Yami muttered, "I'm gonna love this!"

Instead of moving, Gaim-Yami froze where he was, his eyes shut under his helmet. Seeing his opportunity, Sigurd charged at Gaim-Yami, only to be slashed across the chest with the bladed end of a Sonic Arrow.

Looking up expecting to see Knuckle, Sigurd was shocked to see Gaim-Yami instead. Slowly looking between the Gaim-Yami who had attacked him and the Gaim-Yami still stood stock still, Sigurd came to the conclusion that Jinba Orenji's special power was multiplication.

"Great, just what I need," muttered Sigurd, slamming his Seaboll Compressor in twice as four more Gaim-Yami Copies appeared around him.

**CHERRY ENERGY SPARKING!**

Sigurd popped his Lockseed out the Driver and prepared to slot it into his Sonic Arrow when the five Gaim-Yami Copies grabbed hold of him, pinning him in place.

"Let's finish this!" commanded Knuckle, slicing his Cuttung Knife down thrice.

"Agreed," replied the true Gaim-Yami, copying Knuckle.

**JINBA LEMON SPARKING!**

**JINBA ORENJI SPARKING!**

"RIDER KICK!" yelled Gaim-Yami and Knuckle, jumping into the air and launching a high-powered kick at the restrained Sigurd, destroying the Gaim-Yami Copies at the same time.

Landing gracefully, the two Riders turned to watch as Sigurd collapsed forwards, his suit dematerialising as he hit the floor. Walking over to the unconscious form of Sid, Knuckle retrieved his Genesis Driver and Energy Lockseed, safely storing them in his backpack.

"Three down, one to go!" cheered Gaim-Yami, high-fiving Knuckle.

"How about we give Kaito and Micchy a hand?" asked Knuckle, gesturing to where Ryugen and Baron were fighting off an army of Kurokage Troopers.

"Sounds like a plan," replied Gaim-Yami, the two charging into battle, four more copies of Gaim-Yami appearing to aid in the fight.

Pushing through to where Baron was fighting, Knuckle tossed him the Banana Energy Lockseed. Having seen Kouta use one, Baron understood what to do, flicking the switch beside his Rider Indicator as he unlocked the Energy Lockseed.

**BARON-YAMI! STANDING BY!**

Slamming his Banana Energy Lockseed into his new Genesis Core, Baron pushed the two Lock Arms down and sliced the regular Banana Lockseed open, the Energy Lockseed popping open at the same time.

Above Baron, a crack opened and a yellow Energy Armour Part floated down, combining with the folded Banana Armour Part. In a shower of juice, Jinba Banana Arms unfolded around Baron-Yami, his suit fading to black as a Sonic Arrow appeared in his hand.

**MIX! BANANA ARMS! JINBA BANANA!**

Pulling back his bow, Baron-Yami fired off two shots at the nearest Troopers, breaking their transformations, Baron-Yami swiftly claiming their Mass Drivers and Matsubokkuri Lockseeds.

"This new set of Arms are strong, but I must continue to search for stronger," commented Baron-Yami to Knuckle, nodding his head in appreciation.

Knuckle snorted slightly and muttered, "Your lust for strength will be your undoing."

Nearby, Ryugen continued to fight off the Kurokage Troopers, his method was to use his Ryuhou to keep them at a distance they couldn't use their Kagematsus to injure him.

However, a new Trooper waded into the battle, the normally silver sections of his suit were instead gold and the red jewel set in his helmet was instead blue. The most striking different was that he was using a new set of Arms.

**BLUEBERRY ARMS! MR. HEADSTRONG!**

As the blue set of Arms completed their unfolding, Micchy could see that it strongly resembled Ichigo Arms, only recoloured blue. In his hands, the Blueberry Kunai appeared, glinting under the artificial light.

"Who are you?" asked Ryugen warily, his finger primed on the trigger of his blaster.

"I am Armoured Rider Gankona," replied the new Rider, "Leader of the Kurokage Troopers! And this is my Second-In-Command, Armoured Rider Miena!"

**RASPBERRY ARMS! MR. SENSIBLE!**

Stepping forward was a second new Rider, nearly identical to Gankona, except with a pink jewel and a pink recolour of Ichigo Arms.

"We won't let you interfere!" yelled Gankona, charging at Ryugen.

Ryugen pulled back the hammer on his Ryuhou and prepared to fire when Meina launched a Kunai at him, knocking his blaster straight from his hand.

"So impatience," commented Meina, launching a wave of Kunai at Ryugen, forcing him onto one knee.

As Ryugen struggled to weather the attack against him, he came to the realisation that Budou Arms was off no used to him at the time being. Coming to a decision, Ryugen pulled out the Melon Lockseed he obtained during the Fresh Lockseed incident, unlocking it as he did.

**MELON!**

Removing his Budou Lockseed, Ryugen's Arms disappeared in a flash of purple. Clicking the Melon Lockseed into the Drive Day, Ryugen slammed the Lock Arm down and sliced the Lockseed open.

**HAI!**

Gankona growled angrily and launched a wave of Kunai at Ryugen, only for the Melon Armour Part to fly in the way, protecting Ryugen. Bouncing on the floor the Melon Arms landed on Ryugen's shoulder and unfolded into its Arms Form, the Melon Defender appearing in Ryugen's hand.

**MELON ARMS! TENKA GOMEN!**

As Meina unleashed a new set of Kunai, Gankona charged at Ryugen. The Green Rider acted immediately, smacking Gankona across the helmet with his shield and span the Blueberry Rider around into the path of Meina's Kunai.

Dropping to the ground, Gonkona crawled away as Meina charged to battle with Ryugen. With a well-aimed kick, Meina managed to knock the Melon Defender clean out of Ryugen's grip. Slashing him across the chest, Meina watched as Ryugen fell to the ground, his transformation on the point of breaking.

Gesturing to a nearby Kurokage Trooper, Meina instructed, "Finish Test Subject #3, he cannot be allowed to interfere with Yggdrasil's plans."

The Trooper nodded and raised their Kagematsu, preparing to bring it down on Ryugen. Not far away, Knuckle looked up to see the Trooper over Ryugen, ready to finish him off.

"No!" yelled Knuckle, trying to get to Ryugen, only for a group Kurokage Troopers to hold him back.

**MATSUBOKKURI SQUASH!**

The Kurokage Trooper gave a shaky breath and brought the spear down. Preparing himself, Ryugen was shocked to see the trajectory of the Kagematsu change, instead striking Meina across the chest, sending the Raspberry Rider tumbling backwards.

"You dare to disobey me!" gasped Meina.

"I don't hurt my friends," replied the Trooper, pulling off her helmet to reveal she was Mai, "That's a fact!"

"Y-You!" spat Meina, stumbling away.

"Mai?" gasped Ryugen, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

"Surprise!" exclaimed Mai, helping Ryugen to his feet.

"You got my message then?" spoke Knuckle, coming to a stop in front of them.

"To right we did," answered another Trooper, removing her helmet to reveal she was Chucky.

"Mai! Chucky!" greeted Gaim-Yami, hugging his two friends as he arrived, Baron-Yami lingering behind him.

"How?" asked Ryugen, "How did you get in here and get those Drivers?"

"I helped," spoke Knuckle, "I used a Lockseed of Ryoma's to open a crack to the Team Gaim Base, I left two of the Mass Drivers I acquired there with a note explaining what was going on and the Crack Lockseed so they could get in here. I figured we could do we a little help."

"Well, looks like we needed it," muttered Ryugen, the right pauldron of his Melon Arms falling off, the rest of it was in no better shape.

Knuckle watched as the Kurokage Troopers backed off, he could see Gonkona and Meina retreating around the corner. Suddenly, a gap opened in the ranks of the Trooper, Zangetsu Shin stepping out of it.

"I won't let you street trash ruin this operation, now hand over what you've stolen," ordered Zangetsu Shin.

"Looks like it's back to work," spoke Knuckle as Mai and Chucky put their helmets back on, Ryugen quickly switching back to his Budou Arms, "But I think we could do with a little variation."

With that, Knuckle held out his hand as a vine shot out of the Crack and stopped in front of him, two immature fruits hanging on it. Grabbing them, Knuckle watched at they matured in a red Lockseed and a yellow Lockseed.

"Heads up!" called Knuckle, tossing the yellow Lockseed to Chucky and the red Lockseed to Mai. With a nod, the two unlocked their new Lockseeds.

**LEMON!**

**CHERRY!**

Above the group, two Armour Parts appeared and hovered over Mai and Chucky's heads. Snapping the Lockseeds into their Drive Bays, the two used the Cutting Knife to open the Lockseeds.

**SOIYA!**

The Cherry Armour Part dropped onto Mai's shoulders, unfolding into a set of Arms similar to Durian Arms, only recoloured red and lacking the large spike in each shoulder. Her helmet was very different, resembling Sigurd's but lacking the stripes and gems, recoloured black.

Likewise, the Lemon Armour Part floated down onto Chucky's shoulders, unfolding into a yellow recolour of Mango Arms. Her helmet, strangely, was a black version of Baron's with the Lemos Headpiece, normally used by Duke.

**CHERRY ARMS! MIGHT OF THE ARROW!**

**LEMON ARMS! MR. CITRUSMAN!**

As their new set of Arms finalised, the Lemon Mace appeared in Chucky's hand, whereas an all red version of the Sonic Arrow, known as the Cherry Bow, appeared in Mai's.

"I am Armoured Rider Mace!" called Chucky, naming herself after the weapon she possessed.

"Well then, I guess I am Armoured Rider Arrow!" continued Mai, following Chucky's example.

"Let's do this!" yelled Gaim-Yami, prompting the six Rider strong team to charge into battle against Zangetsu Shin and the Kurokage Troopers.

**-Mr. Knuckleman-**


End file.
